There’s something special about New York City in the summer — the sunny skies, heat rising off the pavement and the sheer number of scantily-clad people on the streets. The vibes are sexy, euphoric even. And each September, we have the pleasure of seeing this energy translated to the runways, where the city’s top designers from Eckhaus Latta to Tom Ford present their vision for SS23.
Proenza Schouler kicked off New York Fashion Week at the Hall des Lumières, with their exploration into the “freedom inherent to a summer well lived” and “the sensual and tactile qualities that bring pleasure to life”. The show was a veritable celebration of all that keeps us going, not to mention the fashions, of course. This season, we also have a number of guests in town. As Italian houses Fendi and Marni, plus local ones-to-watch like Elena Velez and Theophilio, prepare to put on big shows in the Big Apple, we’re certain that this season will be hot, hot, hot.
It’s a celebration of summer in one of the world’s greatest cities, it’s one last hurrah before the leaves change, and this season we’re really, really back. As such, you’ll find everything you need to know about SS23’s most exciting collections — including reviews and runway imagery — right here. Let’s just get to it then!
Tom Ford
A Tom Ford collection all about sexiness is hardly a break from tradition. But hey, if it ain’t broke? For SS23, sex may have been on the brain, but actually the main priority that night was getting into some big glamorous Manhattan party first (ideally one in the early 80s).
Models with big hair strutted out across a mirrored catwalk wearing sparkly suits and no shirts, mesh tops and leather trousers and, in the case of Bella Hadid, Gigi and Anok Yai, who walked one after the other in the show’s final segment, metallic sequined-gowns straight out of Studio 54. Tom had his sexual awakening in the fabled midtown nightclub, so naturally he’s going to keep weaving it into his eveningwear.
Much like Beyonce’s Renaissance, a dance album about hedonism and finding salvation on the dancefloor that played throughout the show, spliced together with songs by Jay Z and Queen ($$$$$), the collection felt like finding joy in vast quantities and luxuriating in it. Is that always what Tom Ford is about? Perhaps. But in challenging times and in the shadow of a huge personal loss – Tom’s husband Richard Buckley passed away last year – these messages are never delivered with context or sold wholesale. Some designers really do feel like a state of mind, and the price of entry into the Tom Ford world isn’t necessarily that of a sequined suit.
Seeing Tom take a bow at the end of his show is a reminder that the fame he’s cultivated as a designer is akin to that of a Hollywood actor. Look no further than the front row of his show if in doubt whether he’s a superstar in his own right. Madonna doesn’t leave the house for just anyone. RW
Willy Chavarria
For all intents and purposes, Willy Chavarria closed out New York Fashion Week this season. In presenting his SS23 collection, ‘PLEASE RISE’, the designer took us to church: The Marble Collegiate Church in Flatiron.
Though the show opened with an organ player and a crew of streetcast models walking up the aisle in uniform – though, by uniform, we’re referring to oversized, knee-length, white T-shirts and black jeans – the vibe shifted quickly as 90s rave tracks began playing through the speakers. One by one, models walked up the stairs at the front of the church to pose in front of the ornate altar, displaying their looks before heading off the other side. The first one consisted of a fitted black suit jacket, worn over flowing silk trousers which looked like a skirt from afar, a wooden cross – the same one that was mounted on Willy’s moodboard in his Brooklyn studio a few weeks ago – held across his chest.
The designer revealed a number of collaborations on the runway this season with Pro Club, FB County and Dickies, all of which have significantly influenced American streetwear and style, but this season they took in the signature Willy silhouettes and design ethos. “Silhouette is probably the most important thing to me,” Willy said earlier this season. “One of the things about silhouette is the influence of Chicano culture – oversized, tailored, big pants, big T-shirts, the volume [seen] in the silhouettes was almost like reclaiming a space. Showing our presence in a room or in the country, even just walking down the street.”
For SS23, a traditionally very masculine workwear top with broad shoulders and a long collar was layered over a long trailing “workwear skirt”. The well-tailored, sweeping flare pants and classic button-ups that we’ve come to expect from the brand were present, but what was new on the runway were more formal styles done in a colorful spectrum of luxury silk-wools and tropical weight mohair. A bright turquoise set – one boxy short sleeve silk top and matching wide-leg pants, complete with a large silk rose at the waist – and another in black, with long trailing sleeves and a top unbuttoned almost to the navel, spoke to the often opposing, traditionally hard and soft concepts – Latinx masculinity and queerness – at the heart of the brand. All in all, it’s fair to conclude that the show presented the most elevated and impressive Willy Chavarria collection yet.
“The brand ultimately is a vessel for delivering a much higher power message than just the clothing,” the designer said. “The light of goodness will cascade through the stained-glass windows…” At the Church of Willy Chavarria, that is. “A confident reminder that good does eventually triumph over evil… Willy believes in the good of people, in the beauty of humanity and that no person is beyond repair.” Praise be. ND
Martin Keehn
Martin Keehn describes his SS23 collection in three words: “modern, familiar and weird.”
“I try to convey American sportswear ideals with an urban utilitarian sensibility. Without alienating or making fun of, hopefully you’ll look at someone from your past differently,” he said. He’s interested in “the tension between classic archetypes that simultaneously admire and resist each other — the dreamer vs the authoritarian, the perfectionist vs the fuck up, the class clown vs the teacher.”
For SS23, Martin reinterpreted thrift store items to manifest this vision, using lace from deconstructed wedding dresses and adding it to hoodies and golf sweaters. There are also vintage surfer tees and Polo shirts with hand-applied diamanté hems, which he saw as a way of disrupting the aesthetics of “elitist bro culture.” Alongside lambskin mesh tanks, Welder hats and half-Wrangler/half-Dickies pants were meant to point to ideas around cultural appropriation.
“I feel like I’m recycling other people’s dreams. Taking that energy or hope and not letting it die in a thrift store,” he concluded. “But instead turning it into whatever the material wants me to make of it.” AT
Theophilio
Edvin Thompson’s SS23 collection was only his second showing in New York, but the designer – and winner of last year’s CFDA American Emerging Designer of the Year award – has certainly already made a name for the label as a must-see fashion week moment. Inspired by the Y2K craze and resulting fashion era that had millennial youths in a chokehold, he chose to explore its iconic shapes and silhouettes from his perspective as a Jamaican immigrant.
The first clues were pre-rolled joints offered as party favors paired with striped mini-towels draped over each seat, setting the mood. Soon models emerged from backstage in baby tees – a crucial early-2000s staple – in lurex that read “I Heart TP” in graphics reminiscent of New York’s most iconic souvenirs. They were followed by silk blouses in delightful brights, lame mini-dresses, 70s era collars, leathers cut in motorcycle pants and long skirts, mismatched snakeskins, and new leather bags soon to become signature accessories.
The entire collection was centered on a story pulling from the Jamaican and Rastafarian flags, sprinkled with metallics, and one brilliant use of purple for a pair of slouchy trousers. A model dressed for J’ouvert in an itty-bitty bikini and a showstopping red feather headdress caused an audible gasp from the audience, giving us all that feeling of being genuinely transported. It’s precisely what one yearns for on the final day of fashion week festivities. AT
Nguyen Inc
On the last day of New York Fashion Week, Kim Nguyen shut down Centre Market Place to present her debut collection, Ham Chơi. As an introductory track blared through the speakers, noting all the different ways the designer’s name had been pronounced throughout her life, friends and family of the brand and of i-D, including Eri Wakiyama, Paloma Elsesser and Richie Shazam, gathered both on and off the runway to see what Nguyen Inc had in store.
“All of the outfits that I made for today are extremely tight. I just wanted to make my friends look really fucking good, feel sexy and powerful,” Kim said after the show. “Obviously, I wanted to show a collection, but I wanted to include my friends and make them feel good because they’ve been so supportive of me from the beginning. This is for them.”
Kim started making upcycled T-shirts in 2020, printing on them and then transforming them into fitted, corset-like garments that took in the wearer’s exact measurements so that they could be molded to fit – and showcase – the body. Ever since, Kim’s expanded her repertoire to include a number of varying silhouettes (“I’m a girl with range!” she laughs). For SS23, the designer presented a series of patchworked cotton column dresses, reworked mini skirts woven from T-shirt yarn — a few with hearts sewn in — and a duo of short, skater-style tube dresses — frilled out at the bust — in bright blues and pinks, alongside her signature graphic tees. “I had no idea that it was going to transform into what it is now,” she said, “but I’ve always wanted to have my own brand and this is just the beginning of the chapters.”
For those looking to better understand Nguyen Inc and what kind of garments might hit the runway in the future, Kim suggests looking to the brand ethos. “My dad defines ‘Ham Chơi’ as a way to describe someone with a ‘you only live once’ mentality,” the show notes read, “whereas my mom translates it to ‘someone who parties way too hard’. It’s very much the spirit of Nguyen Inc.” Not only do we expect big things from the brand but to see these colorful looks on every downtown NYC girl before you know it — you heard it here first. ND
Puma
On the penultimate night of NYFW, Puma invited guests to Cipriani’s epic Great Hall to experience Futrograde, an immersive fashion experience that marked their return to the schedule with a bang. Opening with a voiceover from Skepta, and divided into three sections – each separated by a tightly-choreographed dance performance – the event felt as much like theatre as a runway show. Flanked by two giant screens, models and dancers moved in harmony with one another across a central runway. Alton Mason, Winnie Harlow and Usain Bolt were just three of the familiar faces that made appearances.
Under the guidance of creative director June Ambrose – who joined the brand in 2020 – Puma put forward a collection that subverted the role of sportswear and had fun with its endless possibilities. Its most bombastic pieces were black tie tracksuits – i.e. literal suits made from sporting materials – Puma-monogrammed tight dresses, exaggerated puffa jackets (worn on one occasion as a skirt), chaps, an inflated tent top (reminiscent of Fredrik Tjærandsen’s graduate balloon collection) and futuristic eyewear. And shout out to the model who balanced nine caps on her head.
Balancing the line between high fashion and streetwear can often be tricky, but what’s crucial is to never stray too far from your core message. With Futrograde, June seems to have found a comfortable space to experiment and play with such a staple brand. Their ubiquitous T7 stripe was present (the tracksuits with a stripe along the side) as was some sharp tailoring. With Usain Bolt’s black tie tracksuit in mind in particular, perhaps this collection could be best described as: when you have training at 7 and a ceremony at 8. RW
Gauntlett Cheng
Despite being held at one of the southernmost locations we’ve seen this week – at the East River Helipad, with views of downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn Heights – all of New York’s art and fashion set made their way to the piers for Gauntlett Cheng’s SS23 runway show. The location, itself, “begs the question of what it means to be in transition,” the show notes said, “as the city isn’t just a place, it’s a character that encompasses each of our lives.”
Though designers Esther Gauntlett and Jenny Cheng haven’t presented a collection in two years, the turn out wasn’t a correlation, but a reflection of Gauntlett Cheng’s status as one of the city’s most beloved indie brands. Their SS23 collection titled ‘When It Feels Right How Could It Be Wrong’, aimed to provide “contexts for anxious moments in our lives,” through “clothes that are aware of some inevitable tension but find fun in the undertow.” Imani Randolph wore a black lace jumpsuit with a bolero of the same fabric over top, while Coco Gordon Moore modeled a zip-up corset made from a few patchworked gold fabrics with only a mesh string bikini. There were a number of standout dresses, including a floor length white gown made from GC’s now-signature, ruched, silky-but-opaque fabric – the model’s hair braided in front of her face like a mask – and another timeless, square neck silhouette done in an iridescent blue mesh that looked like waves against the backdrop of the East River.
A majority of the clothes were sheer, designed to make their wear feel comfortable and confident, hot. After all, sometimes all one needs to be a show pony is someone to believe in them, though a long floor-sweeping mane and pony hair trailing down the back of one’s legs, as the models sported on the runway, certainly helps – we think. Because no matter what obstacles lie ahead, the show must, and will, go on. “As time waits for no one, luxury is being able to reach into your closet for the same pieces as you did then, as you do now,” the notes concluded. “You’re standing on the edge, intuitively holding your own hand.” ND
Peter Do
When trying to find the entrance to the Peter Do show, an instant sign you were in the right place was the huddle of teenage girls lingering around the building’s service exit. Naturally, there was a K-pop star about – NCT member JENO – who walked the SS23 show thanks to the brand’s partnership with SM Entertainment, Korea’s largest entertainment company. “It was a natural choice to have JENO open the show,” Peter wrote in the show notes, “[he] embodies the Peter Do man – multifaceted, confident, and a trailblazer.”
The Peter Do man is now fully kitted out. Bringing menswear to the fore, for SS23 Peter expanded on the brand’s tailoring for women and adapted key pieces for men. “In pursuit of completing the Peter Do universe, people have always told us ‘It’s about time that you launched men’s,’ Peter writes. “Although men have been wearing Peter Do for some time now. The eternal question of ‘Who is the Peter Do woman?’ has always been limiting to me. Now I’m excited to say that Peter Do is for everyone, because we don’t just dress women or men, we dress people.”
Presented against an epic backdrop of Manhattan 50 stories high, the collection – “TIME” – reasserted the Peter Do fundamentals – slick suiting and lightweight gowns for business, cashmere hoodies and fine knits for pleasure – and highlighted key shapes and silhouettes that we’ve seen in season’s past. But the brand still pushed forward and further refined its message. Old meets new, “time” passes and with it comes tradition and innovation.
Before the collection appeared, a poem by author Mary HK Choi ran through the room, closing on a quote from Ocean Vuong – “Thank you for being”, Ocean wrote in Mary’s book. “That was it. I didn’t have to do anything else.” Despite the grandeur of the setting and impact of the 60-strong looks, there were subtle moments of intimacy to the show like this. Digitally manipulated images that are vital to Peter, for example, became the prints that ran through the collection. Before the show had even began, guests were delivered invites in the form of a cookie tin, a nod to the vessel’s timelessness when becoming a box for different items and, with that, memories, over years and years.
Anyone who steps out from under the guidance and leadership of Phoebe Philo instantly becomes a name to watch in fashion. So in 2018, when Peter Do left Celine to start his namesake brand with a small group of friends, anticipation was predictably high. In the seasons since, the brand has made good on the promise of simple, elegant and wearable clothes that Phoebe’s Celine championed, and SS23 was no different.
Maisie Wilen
Maisie Wilen’s collections have always been digital first, so zeroing in on CGI and special effects techniques felt like a natural step for her this season. There were clues as to the theme before the show began, as guests entered a room with walls covered in fabric that was unmistakably greenscreen. Models stepped onto the runway in her familiar stretchy shapes and body-conscious fabrics, but there were also new ideas, like boxy graphic baby tees, screen printed denim, and a cardigan worn cheekily to expose the belly button.
Maisie forged into new directions with by playing with proportions, including several gowns — the standout was a gloved, hooded number with black and white CGI markers transformed into a print, worn by Ella Emhof, who closed the show. “We’re known for going-out, mini-dress looks, so this just brought in a more formal element — an expansion of the vision,” she told us backstage.
Another step in expanding the brand vision was including menswear. “It was really exciting, I was seeing so many guys wearing our clothes, and they looked great. So I was like, let’s make it official,” she said. Ultimately, her wish is to invite and encourage fluidity. “All of the girls clothes work on guys, and vice versa. Anybody can wear anything.”
Maryam Nassir Zadeh
Maryam Nassir Zadeh believes in divine timing. Everything that she’s accomplished thus far, from launching her eponymous label almost two decades ago to opening her new, meticulously-curated shop in Paris, has happened because it just felt like the right day, month, or year to do so. “It’s about surrendering. All these things are things I’ve wanted to do forever,” she said just moments after presenting her SS23 runway show at the handball courts of Sara D. Roosevelt Park on the Lower East Side. “I do my best, but it’s so hard to manage being a mom and being a business owner, and when the timing is right…”
It’s just right! After spending the summer in Hydra with a group of her oldest and closest friends, Maryam began to notice that she was getting dressed in a slightly sexier, haphazard-yet-artful way. She’d pull out vintage lace that she bought in Burano, or Venice, and romantically drape it around her body before snapping a mirror selfie. “This summer, we’re all feeling more comfortable about our bodies and exposing our skin,” she says. “With the textiles, there’s an element of convertibility, and so I was naturally dressing in a way where I was half-naked, half covered.” This way of getting dressed, it seems, was unintentional. It just kind of happened – divine timing, or what have you – but Maryam connects it to her ongoing relationship with domesticity, being a mother, and being naked – free. And so SS23 felt like the right time to pull out the vintage fabrics she’s collected over the last 20 years, as well as some of the first garments she’s ever made, and rework them with her stylist and dear friend Thistle Brown.
Alongside “elevated basics”, Maryam’s intimate way of getting dressed was translated to the runway in the form of apron-style skirts and sheer lace dresses layered over bikinis and underwear. One celery-colored top was cut across the side before snaking around the midsection – its ends done up with rosettes – and a shimmering golden lace was layered over a black lace bodysuit. The collection of reworked garments felt distinctly more feminine, naturally, due to soft floral embroidery and crochet, and they were accentuated by cotton stockings, doilies and collars, oversized scrunchies accenting the nape of the neck and the space between the shoulders. It was all very creative, including the final look – a dress made from hotel towels collected from La Residencia, the same ones that inspired the towel Maryam designed earlier this year. The location was significant as well – the first Maryam Nassir Zadeh lookbook was photographed on these very tennis courts, and the designer used to have a studio across the street – but this MNZ show was something different entirely, a refreshing moment for the brand and for all of us married to the sometimes monotonous NYFW schedule.
“It’s about the full circle – what is still remaining,” Maryam concluded. “Which textiles still have modernity? Which textiles remain significant? The ones that still had the spirit, I let them speak for themselves. They’re like treasures to me.” As such, some of these fabrics are simply too personal to part with, but the designer will likely produce one-off of some of her favorite pieces from this season. We’ll just have to see if the timing is right. ND
Puppets and Puppets
In the world of New York fashion, few young designers have carved out a space for themselves that caters to both the mainstream and remains authentic to their original vision. Puppets and Puppets, however, haven’t abandoned their quirks – the surreal accessories topped with a random assortment of objects, from resin chocolate chip cookies to a corded telephone; the structural showpieces that wobble down the runway (often seen on Richie Shazam) – while landing retail spots at SSENSE and Bergdorf’s. Though this season does see designer Carly Mark collaborate with 00s LA it-brand Michael Stars, her references are as eclectic as ever: “Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, the illustrations of Dante’s Inferno by Gustave Doré and parties in New York City”.
The Puppets and Puppets show took place on Sunday at The National Arts Club, where Caroline Polachek opened the show in a plunging cowl neck printed dress, with only fluttering butterflies covering her nipples. Later, there was a stunning metallic jersey evening gown, with one very low butterfly-adorned back. The SS23 collection ran the wearability gamut, though, featuring a very convincing Puppets take on Nicole Kidman’s iconic white tank and underwear look from the aforementioned film, as Carly is committed to designing clothes that she – and folks like her – want to live out their lives in. “I designed this collection for a sophisticated and sexy woman who isn’t afraid of a bit of dark humour,” she said in the show notes. “This season is seen through the lens of a confident and bold woman living in New York City.” I.e., one that means business but wants to look hot heading to grab ice cream from the bodega, in case of nuclear attack… or you know, running into your ex. ND
Sandy Liang
On Sunday, Sandy Liang staged her SS23 runway show at the Schimmel Centre Auditorium at Pace University in downtown Manhattan. While the scholastic nature of the venue proved a fitting set for the designer’s ‘Ode to a Uniform’, the collection was anything but back to school as usual. New on the runway were Sandy’s Mary Jane Pointe shoes, the designer’s first foray into footwear, and coquette hair bows and rosette ties that recently hit her Orchard Street shop. The nostalgic references beloved by all the downtown fashion girls – namely, this season, the casual cool street style of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and Chloë Sevigny, the Gilded Age and any and every Sofia Coppola film – could be felt in the clothes, themselves, but as Sandy celebrated nearly ten years of her namesake label it became clear that it’d finally grown up.
This season, the Sandy Liang girl was dressed in low-rise pleated skirts and matching bralette tops, plain-looking trousers (save for a cutout at the side of the hip) or an edgy skirt overlay, long suit-like coats and drop-waist dresses that brought a certain sweetness to the overall air of 90s minimalism. There was a series of sheer and opaque layered looks that called to mind the era’s infamous slip skirts and dresses, as well as one gingham sequinned closing dress, but overall there were fewer bows, ruffles and frills – save for the bedazzled temporary tattoos – but, of course, there was a sense of playful feminine energy to it all. Models wore knee-high socks, sunglasses and headphones for their commute, referencing “the juxtaposition of the ensemble seen on both sides of the desk, the teacher, the student; and even the after school recital.” One thing’s for certain, we love a uniform, but especially when it’s Sandy Liang. ND
Coach
Inside the cavernous Park Avenue Armory, Coach opened its SS23 show, not with a pounding soundtrack and an instant stream of models but with a quiet moment of cinematic romance. Once the lights had dimmed and the crowd was silent, two models wandered hand-in-hand down the stage – built to resemble one of New York‘s iconic piers – before sitting and hanging their legs over the edge. Behind, other choreographed models began loitering in the distance, one holding a guitar, one holding a red balloon, another taking an elegant-looking afghan hound (impressively, making its second Coach runway appearance, apparently) for a walk. Read our full review here.
Marni
In our constantly shifting cultural landscape where new crises and distractions simultaneously emerge each day, fewer and fewer experiences remain universal; even less, sacred. One that endures, however, and continues to inspire is the act of watching the sun – be it rising or setting, and the effect its light creates on our surroundings. These reliable celestial movements inspired Francesco Risso, creative director of Marni, who looked to the sun’s rays and how they lit up the Italian countryside at various points of the day for his SS23 collection, which he presented in New York City on Saturday night. Read our full review here.
Barragán
Barragán’s return to the NYFW calendar for SS23 was presented in a space staged to evoke American music festivals gone toxic — like the chaotic wasteland that was Woodstock ‘99, the disastrous weekend that walked so Fyre Festival could run. Immediately the show summoned the energy of late-stage capitalism and the excesses of “whiteness,” as Barragán put it, with models entering through the door of a porta-potty, stepping over piles of trash and cash strewn on the floor.
Barragán told us he hoped to offer a meditation of the phrase “business as usual”. We saw this articulated in blue pinstripe shirting you’d see worn on Wall Street, deconstructed and paired with those chrome briefcases that always seem to suggest some kind of illicit back room activity. Dollar bills served a role in the designs as well, including a money tape mini dress worn with strappy heels fashioned out of duct tape (a continuing motif that was also wrapped around thighs; covering a pair of Barragán’s now signature oversized square toe brogues; used as a sling; and styled as a corset with a matching glove that fused a Coke can to a model’s hand, perhaps for easy sipping).
Barragán chose to use all caucasian models to hit home his message, sending them out in trousers and bike shorts inflected with stars, exaggerated stripes, and hunting camo print. Belt buckles and graphic tees read phrases like “white tears, and “cancelled twice.” It all seemed to dovetail nicely with the beauty decisions, including a couple of choppy hair moments that were very clearly giving soccer mom spiral, alongside body makeup meant to mimic dirt and botched lip injections.
With fashion week itself returning to business as usual after a couple of years in awkward limbo, Barragán invited us to ponder the harmful structures, patterns, and views of society revealed in stark relief during the pandemic. He’s asking us to remember there are places and states of mind to which we don’t actually want to return. This collection felt risky, fresh, and unencumbered by industry pressure to steer transgressive ideas in the direction of commercial appeal. Nevertheless, that won’t stop many of these pieces from flying off the shelves. AT
Luar
The Sunday of NYFW is always rough. The initial high of the festivities has begun to dissipate, as a hangover from packed schedules — not to mention parties creeping into the morning hours — begins to set in. This Sunday was no different, made even more sluggish due to relentless rain, which slowed arrival times to the Luar show scheduled to begin at 9pm.
Upon walking through the door of The Shed, there was a palpable electricity in the air that immediately cut through any lingering sleepiness. The hectic check-in line reflected a collective excitement about the brand’s return to the runway after taking a break last season. It was precisely the cultural “pulse” we talk about when we talk about New York City. After the critical mass of the audience had made it up the escalators to the show space (nearly five minutes until 10pm), a hush moved over the crowd as ushers suggested the show was about to begin. A voice materialised over the loudspeaker, informing us that: “the show is not actually about to start, we just wanted you to take your seats”. A wave of laughter erupted — it was clear this would be a good time.
The first model emerged from the darkness into a dramatic spotlight (to the tune of Alejandra Guzman’s “Llama Por Favor”) wearing a piece-worked long-sleeved gown in beige, black and navy nylon with shirred elastic cuffs, ruching at the hips, and a crystal diamond-shaped “L” pendant. It helped to contextualise the show notes, which invited us to assume designer Raul Lopez’s P.O.V in a childhood memory of aunties magically transforming out of nylon jackets and into “slinky floor-length dresses” in his Brooklyn living room at family functions. He remembers sitting on the sofa as his mother insisted he button a “starchy shirt” all the way to the top as they waited for guests to arrive. We saw this detail translated to the runway via a white Oxford with leather piping, mutton leaves and exaggerated shoulders styled with velvet champagne gloves, white-rimmed sunglasses and the coveted Ana bag in a new ink-blotted cow print colourway.
There were other new shapes and delights this season in the form of accessories, including a series of black, beige, and caramel-coloured mules, the Ana bag in a weekend-sized proportion, and shades decorated with large showstopping plumes. Raul also sent out some very compelling leather pieces: from an ankle-length honey alligator trench, to double-breasted blazers and collared jackets with geometric panelling. The motif of nylon technical material linked with slinky sensuality also continued, most notably in look 44, pairing a black nylon jacket – featuring detachable sleeves and corset gathering – with a cascading floor-length sequined skirt that revealed both thighs.
Ending the soundtrack with Nas’ 1999 anthem “You Can Hate Me Now”, the show was bold, alive, and dripping, all with a palpable bravado emanating from each model. It was clear they were feeling themselves in the clothes, some taking a moment to pose and peacock in mirrors placed on the runway. That feeling of inner confidence was infectious — by the end, nearly everyone was bopping joyfully to the music in their seats. AT
Dion Lee
Offering possibly the most dramatic backdrop of NYFW thus far, Dion Lee invited guests to experience SS23 in an empty space halfway up a skyscraper that looked directly out onto the iconic New Yorker hotel. Beautiful blue afternoon skies and this sprawling view of Manhattan combined with the grittiness of the room’s exposed concrete, thumping soundtrack and a uniform of largely monochrome clubwear (and the occasional leaf look) to create both a dramatic energy and a visual message that felt like it spanned all corners of New York nightlife.
For Dion, an Australian expat who’s been working in the city for some time, this is business as usual. His sexy, fluid clothes – as spotted recently on the likes of Zendaya, Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Dua Lipa and Rosalía, whose custom Motomami world tour looks come courtesy of the brand – never stray far from this particular brief. This season, he kept the energy high with familiar knee-high boots, interlocking harness details and micro-miniskirts (recreations of the very same that Rosalía has been sporting on stage). Notable innovations came in the development of the designer’s monstera leaf signature – which translated to foldover, open-toe calf boots – a series of painstakingly ruched mini-dresses and – in what could be read as a nod to the surf culture of his native Sydney – a black, top-to-toe neoprene wetsuit that could be worn as easily to a sweat-hazed rave as for a trip to Bondi Beach. All in all, Dion Lee SS23 was pure uninhibited fun. RW
Eckhaus Latta
On a sunny Saturday afternoon, Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta invited editors and friends of their namesake label into a tranquil community garden in Alphabet City for their SS23 show. The lush green space was not only an idyllic backdrop for their latest collection, which saw signature Eckhaus Latta pieces and silhouettes – EL jeans, tanks and colourful striped knits – imbued with a sense of youthful whimsy, but a much-needed respite from the heat, the constant city sounds and the whirlwind that is the NYFW schedule this season. For a brief moment, attendees revelled in the very thing that makes the New York brand and all it stands for so special – community.
Of course, this community spirit made itself felt on the runway. Hari Nef modelled a white mini dress featuring playful red and blue beaded tassels that swung side to side as she walked through the grass, while Paloma Elsesser sported a shirred chocolate brown twin, the skirt of which featured a lengthy thigh-slit; Ethel Cain wore a relaxed frayed suit set in creamy tweed, and there was a spirited element to the textures, as well, as exemplified by a celery bubble top that proves the fashion-meets-nature trend is here to stay. Elsewhere, Caroline Polachek embodied a woodland nymph, emerging from under the willow tree in a foil dress, knotted up the side. The garment was printed with a glitchy, technicolour artwork by the late artist, Matthew Underwood, a dear friend of Zoe’s. “We really tried for ease this season—playfulness was mandatory for each garment; at the same time, we wanted to celebrate Matt’s work,” the designer says. “The pieces that integrate his artwork explore the futility of living and continue his aesthetic qualities, collaging a collage.” They’re pieces that prove — like the creative community that surrounds Eckhaus Latta itself — that honest collaboration results in the most magical of creations. ND
Elena Velez
As the daughter of a single mother, who was a ship captain on the Great Lakes, Elena Velez’s eponymous label explores identity and femininity through the lens of Midwestern craftsmanship. “Growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a lot of the female influences I had were very much opposed to the delicate and the feminine woman of New York City,” she explained earlier this season. This juxtaposition could be seen and felt in her clothes – the “agressively delicate” sheer, cutout dresses whose very nature push the fabrics and their makers to the limits – and the slightly disorienting mood of her SS23 show, YR002 – IN GLASS, presented in a dimly-lit, smoke-filled Chelsea factory on Saturday.
Described as “a bloodletting for woman in her most insufferable and divine glory”, the collection referenced Elena’s own experience of giving birth, ceding one’s body to grow another, and the political suppression and regulation of women and their bodies today. “For me, it’s very important to explore the multiplicity of womanhood,” she said. “It’s becoming increasingly difficult, in 2022, to be able to hold multiple truths, and the womanhood that I like to portray through my collections is the saint and the sinner at the same time. She’s the virgin mother and she’s also the whore and the harlot.”
Elena’s vision of womanhood came alive in drastically-cut corset bodices, many featuring raw, unfinished hems, and bondage style tops that simultaneously strap the body in and allow soft curves – the breasts, the dips of the hips – to droop out. One sleeveless column dress that’s made from delicate-yet-utilitarian cotton gauze appeared covered in shiny, wet black latex, while another sticky, fluid-like white one, made in collaboration with artist Caroline Zimbalist, was worn by Richie Shazam to close the show. It was the second-to-last look, though, a bulbous evening gown with a sheer, gauze bodice, and giant Milwaukee steel cage, that placed Elena’s designs, her creative community and her urgent message exactly where they need to be – front and centre. ND
Fendi
Is it possible to win New York Fashion Week on the very first day? Well, last night, Kim Jones and his team over at Fendi did a damn good job of trying to, enlisting a line-up of the city’s most notable names – Marc Jacobs, Tiffany & Co., Carrie Bradshaw – for a grand-scale, capital-s show at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Attended by everyone from Jocelyn Wildenstein and Kim Kardashian to a roll-call of mononymous nineties supers, it was the sort of spectacle that the city’s schedule hasn’t seen in some time. And to top it all off? Linda Evangelista, who’s absent from the runway for 15 years, closed. Granted, this starry spectacle wasn’t staged for the fun of it. Rather, it was a worthy celebration of a monumental anniversary for the Roman house — the 25th birthday of the Baguette. Head here for the full review.
No Sesso
Following a breakout show for AW22, No Sesso designers Pia Davis and Autumn Randolph were named CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalists. The big-industry co-sign marked a pivotal moment in the label’s trajectory, but the SS23 collection stayed true to their transgressive roots. Playing with a “darker side” of their aesthetic identity, this season saw No Sesso investigating a vibe they call “Black Punk”, traces of which were legible in a moody colour story dominated by slinky blacks (think Missy Elliot’s look in the video for “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)”) and shades of slate in nylon and silk chiffon, alongside silver hardware details. There was lots of skin, peeking most memorably through the signature cutout of their “OTD” dress to reveal the obliques — and lots of leg, as it was cut this season in a new mini silhouette.
Tougher, sharper, more severe tailoring signalled a departure from the more DIY energy we’ve seen in previous, more colourful collections, but there was no shortage of playful propositions — from g-strings layered on top of bike shorts, to a deconstructed ankle-length dress covered in cargo pockets, and a cascading, gunmetal pearl bralette flirting cheekily with freed nipples.
In step with last season’s collaboration with Levi’s, their spring collection also offered partnership pieces, including jewellery designed by Je Blanc and Marcellus of Marcymane. The opening look, designed for Nike, was served as an ode to Serena Williams’ on-court fashion sense, aimed to evoke “the confidence, power, rebelliousness, assuredness, and style” the G.O.A.T has carried onto the court throughout her historical career. What better muse than the barrier-breaking, record-shattering Serena to channel and explore the meaning of Black punk. AT
Collina Strada
On a pink dusky Friday evening in Brooklyn, Collina Strada invited guests to a former graveyard turned monarch butterfly preserve, to experience GOT MILKWEED?, a lighthearted but elegant SS23 collection. This atmospheric arena, (intentionally?) glitchy soundtrack and fun casting (a mix of models and members of the Collina community, more on that shortly) kicked off the first day of NYFW with charm and ease.
Using deadstock materials throughout the collection, Hillary Taymour, founder of the brand, and Charlie Engman, her co-creative director, emphasised the importance of protecting “Mommy Earth” whilst still creating looks with wow factor. The goal for any wearer, it seems, is to be sufficiently “ready to rule the red carpet” when purchasing responsibly-crafted, regenerative pieces. Comprising materials like deadstock denim, satin, rose-derived sylk, orange fibre organza and acrylic scraps crafted into knitwear, the message was: “if we can’t be emotionally available, we can always be bioavailable.”
There were also numerous collaborations weaved into the collection from similarly forward-thinking brands. For the upcycled knitwear, Collina worked with Italian knitwear brand Vitelli. As for the shoes, the brand debuted their see now, buy now Melissa collab of jelly shoes made with sugar cane plastic, a 100% recyclable material, and another new collab with sustainable boots brand, Virón. Elsewhere, Levi’s denim was reworked for the runway.
But back to the casting: opening the show, Hari Nef skipped and twirled in a satin dress with the collection’s name written across it, and somewhere in the middle, Ella Emhoff twirled her fingers like a butterfly (as did many of the models) in floral cargo pants. Other familiar faces included Kimberly Drew, Aaron Rose Philip, Jemima Kirke, Jazelle and Fernando Casablancas (the latter two of whom carried broccoli-shaped bags — do what you will with this information).
From its structured dresses to the casual tees and jeans, with GOT MILKWEED?, Collina Strada created something light, upbeat, pastel-coloured and eco-conscious without sacrificing anything. Speaking to i-D last year, model and musician Angel Emoji laid out what they thought made the brand so special, and watching their SS23 show, the sentiment feels just as true: “Their commitment to social ideas and change achieved through fashion without ever coming off as pandering or green-washing. Inclusivity, climate change and political responsibility are all hot topics that brands are rushing in to take a slice of, but it’s genuine with each Collina collection — it’s in the fabrics and models.” RW
Proenza Schouler
As the first big show on the New York Fashion Week schedule, season after season, Proenza Schouler are perennially tasked with setting the vibe. It’s a good thing, then, that this is something designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez have mastered over the years. Their SS23 collection is a celebration of spirit, joy, energy — the high that we New Yorkers have been riding all season long — with the intent of embodying “the spectacular sense of freedom inherent to a summer well lived, one rooted in sunshine, water, skin, the body in motion”.
Arca opened the show, which turned the beaux-arts Hall des Lumières into a rain-drenched runway, dressed in a midriff-bearing fringe top and slouching black bubble skirt. In this look and throughout the collection, the designers add volume in unexpected places and textural flourishes — exaggerated ruffles, oversized flares — that convey a fresh sense of fluidity, movement. “There was a conversation of identity: gender identity, cultural identity,” Lazaro explained backstage after the show. “We leaned into my Latin history, my personal narrative, which we’ve never really explored.”
Across an impeccable offering of knits — Kendall Jenner sported a sheer, machine knit two-piece, combining a few iconic brand signatures: lace, bustiers, fringe, crochet — the designers explored Lazaro’s Cuban roots and the “pragmatism and grit” of Jack’s American upbringing. While the latter doesn’t exactly sound sexy, it most certainly comes across as such, as the designers merge their personal histories and strong suits to take on “the sensual and tactile qualities that bring pleasure to life”. The result is one of Proenza Schouler’s sexiest collections to date, which culminated in a series of three shimmering, golden-hour looks. One barely-there cowlneck dress worn by a sultry, hair-slicked-back i-D cover star Bella Hadid, was hand-crocheted by women artisans in Bolivia over the course of six months, using metallic threads and beads.
“We’re talking about the idea of energy, of joy, of sensuality,” Jack adds. “These things that sometimes we feel are lost in our lives, to be honest, and we’re trying to find a way to get them back.” It’s true, it’s a vibe, and one we’ll cling onto as we head into fashion month — as the leaves change and we transition into fall, and beyond. ND
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